Baby Names of the Day

How the names of the day are chosen

The pool is not the whole database. A name can be featured only if it is published, if its meaning is labelled Documented, if it has a recorded use in at least one language and if it links to other names through a relation, a shared element or a shared meaning theme. Today that is a subset of the 1,200 names with a Documented meaning among our 3,344 published entries with a meaning.

From that pool, each day and each gender gets one name. The choice is a fixed calculation on the date, not a random draw and not a ranking. Everyone who opens this page on the same day sees the same three names, and the picks are stored, so a name does not change if the database is updated later in the day.

There is no popularity behind the choice. We do not have official birth statistics for these names, so a featured name is not a popular name, a rising name or a rare one. It is simply a name with a well-documented meaning that is worth a closer look.

How to use this page

1. Read the three cards. Each one starts with the label of the day, then the name, the origin and an approximate syllable count, then a short description.
2. Open the full page of any name with the button at the bottom of its card to see the sources, variant spellings, related names and the Across Turkic languages table.
3. Use the bookmark button on the full page to add a name to your shortlist. The shortlist stays in your browser and is never sent to our server.
4. Use Swipe for more like these to keep or pass on names of the same gender, one at a time, or Find names that go with them to look for sibling names that fit the one you liked.
5. Come back tomorrow, or look at the recently featured names below, which list the previous thirty days.

What the description tells you, and what it does not

The description on each card is built from the stored entry. It names the languages the name is recorded for, quotes the documented meaning, says which language it comes from, lists the parts a name is built from when they are recorded and mentions the spellings in other scripts. If a fact is not stored, the sentence is left out rather than filled in.

That is also the limit. The description is a summary, not a full biography of the name. It does not say how common the name is, how it sounds in a particular region or whether a family tradition uses it. For those questions, open the full page, read the sources and, if you know better, send us a correction.

Honest limits

• Only Documented names are featured. Many good names carry the Likely or Editorial label and never appear here; you can find them through the lists and the generator.
• The collection grows over time. The archive below covers the last 30 days and starts when the feature went live.
• Syllable counts are approximate. They count groups of vowels in the Latin spelling, which works for most names but not for every loanword.
• Meanings are explained in English by us, usually quoting a source. A single English word cannot carry all shades of a name.
• A name being featured is not a recommendation. Whether it suits your family, your surname and your country's naming rules is for you to decide.

Practical tips for parents

Treat the names of the day as a way to widen your list, not to narrow it. If one of the three catches your eye, say the full name aloud with your surname, write it in every script your family uses and check how it reads on a form. The tools linked below can help with exactly those steps.

If you are choosing together, save the names you like and compare them later in a calm moment. A name that looks lovely on a card sometimes feels different after a week, and the names that stay on your list are usually the ones worth keeping.

Check the registry rules of the country where the birth will be recorded. Some registries limit letters, hyphens or the number of given names, and a spelling with a special letter may need a plain alternative on paper.

Questions and answers